ACK Media to bring National Geographic Magazine in India

ACK Media has bagged the licensing rights of National Geographic Magazine; it will introduce the Indian edition of the magazine in mid-2012, subject to the required approvals.

ACK Media is an entertainment and education company for young audiences, and publishes children's titles like Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle, and Karadi Tales.

Talking about the need to launch an Indian edition of the magazine, Samir Patil, chief executive officer and founder, ACK Media, says, "India is a world in itself. A unique content experience is desirable for the Indian market, as a standard international product cannot do justice to India's diversity; nor can it address the unique reading habits and aspirations of evolved Indian consumers."

Patil further adds that the cover price of the new entrant will be kept "affordable", and is aimed at creating a large reader base for the publication. National Geographic Magazine is already distributed in the country, and to further build the momentum about the local edition, ACK Media will start building advertisement and marketing partnerships immediately.

The ratio of local and international content will vary over a period of time. The company is expecting significant localisation for Nat Geo Traveller, and far less for Nat Geo Magazine, which in any case, has many India-centric articles. "In fact, India is the second most-covered country for the magazine," adds Patil.

ACK Media owns IBH, a distribution business for media and related products, and for Nat Geo Magazine it will bring to the table 10,000 plus vendors. ACK Media has been distributing both Nat Geo magazines for many years in India. "With Future Ventures, a majority shareholder in ACK Media, we also bring unique strengths in the retail and merchandising space. We have aggressive plans for e-commerce, dedicated retail presence, retail kiosks and other kinds of innovative points of presence in malls, books stores and modern retail. Finally, we have a unique direct to customer strategy, both in terms of physical mailers, as well as e-commerce. Overall, we think we have the only full-service distribution model in India," he says.

The group is also making investments in this area, to take care of customer preference for cash-on-delivery.